by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

CONCORD, N.C. â?? Joe Gibbs Racing won a surprising victory against NASCAR on Wednesday, convincing an appeals panel to agree with its contention the sanctioning body's penalties for an illegal engine part were too harsh.

The three-member National Stock Car Racing Commission appeals panel stripped many of the most severe elements of the penalty to Matt Kenseth's team, including a reduction in points (50 to 12) and in the suspension for crew chief Jason Ratcliff (six races to one).

In addition, Kenseth's Kansas victory now will count toward Chase contention and Gibbs will be able to collect owner points for the next six races (he would have been banned from doing so had the penalty stood). The driver moves from 11th to fourth in the point standings.

That showed Gibbs was able to find a sympathetic ear for its argument that it wasn't responsible for the engine, which was built by Toyota Racing Development. TRD previously acknowledged a connecting rod weighed too little but said it was a vendor error and not an attempt to cheat.

The connecting rod was 2.7 grams too light, though the other seven rods in the engine were well over the minimum.

"We are going to work extremely hard with TRD to make sure this never happens again," Gibbs said. "Right now, we just want to get back to racing. ... We want to put this behind us."

NASCAR's penalties had included docking Kenseth 50 points, suspending Ratcliff for six weeks and fining him $200,000 and taking away Gibbs' opportunity to earn any owner points for six weeks (essentially ruining the No. 20 team's shot at the owner's championship). The $200,000 fine for Ratcliff will remain, and Gibbs declined to say if he would pay for it.

Ratcliff will be on probation for three races after his suspension, which will be served this weekend at Darlington (a replacement was not named).

NASCAR was displeased with the decision -- which it cannot appeal -- but a spokesman said officials will not change the way they penalize teams.

Engines, fuel and tires always have been among three "Holy Grail" areas where teams know they cannot touch, spokesman Kerry Tharp said.

"While we are disappointed in today's outcome, we stand firmly behind our inspection process," he said. "... In violations such as these, we have no other recourse in the reinforcement process than to penalize the team owner and team members. That's how our system works."

But after NASCAR has had two penalties reduced in as many days, it could raise questions that NASCAR's enforcement powers have been weakened.

Tharp, though, said NASCAR was "not worried at all" that its penalties could become toothless in the garage area if it continues to lose on appeal (three penalties have been reduced in the last two seasons).

"You're not going to agree with everything, and today is one we disagree with," Tharp said. "We feel like when we write a penalty and write a rules violation, there needs to be something behind it."

After Kansas, Kenseth said the penalties were "grossly unfair" and "borderline shameful" and Gibbs said he was bothered by the notion his reputation was taking a hit.

JGR did not make any attempt to cheat, Gibbs said two weeks ago at Richmond.

"That's important to me," he said then. "This motor and what happened, there was not an attempt to circumvent the rules or have an unfair competitive advantage."

TRD Senior Vice President David Wilson, who joined Gibbs in the appeal room, called it "a good result." He declined to elaborate on his role in the appeal.

Wilson said Toyota would set out to overcome a now-five-point deficit to Chevrolet in the manufacturer standings.

"We're happy this distraction is over with and we can just focus on racing," he told USA TODAY Sports.